Leap of faith: NC pastor goes skydiving on 98th birthday

Born in the early 1920s, Jernigan recalls experiences from decades ago with clarity, speaking with a regard for dignity, hard work and fortitude that many consider the more admirable traits of his generation. The economic hardships of the 1930s, enduring the horrors of war and making it through without modern-day conveniences and technological advances were among the realities of life.

The character constructed from all of that is evident.

Approaching 98 years old, Jernigan said he struggles with his vision, but his blessings were evident among a group of about 80 friends and family members at Parker's Barbecue in Wilson on Saturday.

He's still getting all he can out of life, crossing new frontiers. On Tuesday, his 98th birthday, Jernigan will go skydiving in Southport. He has experience with planes from his time in the Navy, but has never jumped out of one.

It's not a usual Tuesday for a 98-year-old, but Jernigan thinks it's fitting for how his life has lived.

"I never have been a thrill seeker," Jernigan said. "Things just seem to happen that way."

As far as his longevity, Jernigan credits "the good lord and black coffee" – he's been known to consume as many as eight cups a day. Jernigan swears he can still do six pushups, though that's harder to do with a belly full of barbecue.

"It's been a good life," he said. "My health is good. I don't have a doctor. I'm on no medication, haven't had a physical in 15 years."

His granddaughter, April Lintner, has gone sky diving several times and at one point, asked grandpa if he would do it with her.

"I guess it started as a joke for him," Lintner said. "So then we started holding him to it, and here we are."

"When they first started talking to me about it in May, it seemed a long time off and I said 'OK, we'll think about it,'" Jernigan said. "It wasn't long before I heard 'you promised.'"

"I have no qualms about it. It is another mountain, another experience. It's a challenge."

After decades serving in the military, Jernigan entered the ministry in 1967. Jernigan and his wife, Lizzie Mae, were missionaries to Native Americans for 52 years.

Jernigan served in the Navy during World War II, the Korean conflict, Vietnam and the Cuban missile crisis. He was at John F. Kennedy's presidential inauguration as an attaché to then-North Carolina Gov. Luther B. Hodges.

Jernigan was born in Selma and grew up on a farm near Bailey. After a stint in east Texas, he now lives in La Grange with his daughter, Linda, who will jump with him on Tuesday. In fact, April will, too, making for three generations of family to take the leap.

He has two children, five grandchildren and several great-grandchildren he enjoys. He also enjoys working on projects in his workshop.

"My mind's good," Jernigan said. "I can remember when I was two years old. I can quote the Gettysburg address."

It's not entirely unheard of to skydive this late in life. Former President George H.W. Bush went skydiving into his 90s as well, celebrating his 90th birthday with a jump.

Perhaps the most unorthodox arc in Jernigan's life came after high school when he worked with the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus for a season in 1941. Jernigan said he was an understudy of world-famous clown Emmett Kelly. He was training to be a clown in what was one of the more valuable entertainment ventures in the world at the time.

"I had read books about a little boy in the circus and that had stayed with me," he said.

He was with the circus in Sarasota, Florida, that December when he learned of Pearl Harbor, the catalyst for U.S. involvement in World War II. He eventually made up his mind to return to North Carolina and enter the Navy on Sept. 19, 1942, with his brother: a date he still remembers.

"I was a truant gunner on a torpedo bomber on the USS Ranger," Jernigan said.

He continues his ministry work through his Facebook page, "Preacher Roy Ministries," where he gives sermons from home.

On Saturday, the Nash County Sheriff's Office made Jernigan "Deputy of the Day."

With still more to squeeze out of life, Tuesday will mark another memorable jump into the unknown.

"Fear is a lack of faith, that's what the Bible says," he told a friend asking him about his big day on Tuesday.

"If you have fear, you don't have faith."